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Pakistan's star batter Babar Azam has retained third position in the International Cricket Council's (ICC) Test batter rankings. According to the latest ranking issued by the ICC, New Zealand's Kane Williamson remains number one in the rankings, while England's Joe Root is in the second position. England's Harry Brooke moved up three places to 7th, and England's Zac Crowley moved up three places to 13th. India's Ravichandran Ashwin remains number one among Test bowlers. England's James Anderson ended his Test career at number 8 while Shaheen Afridi is at number 9 in the Test bowling rankings. India's Ravindra Jadeja remains number one in Test all-rounders.

Babar Azam Retains Third Spot in Latest ICC Test Batting Rankings

Pakistan’s star batter Babar Azam has retained third position in the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Test batter rankings. According to the latest ranking issued by the ICC, New Zealand’s Kane Williamson remains number one in the rankings, while England’s Joe Root is in the second position. England’s Harry Brooke moved up three places to 7th, and England’s Zac Crowley moved …

Shahid Afridi Clarifies Position on Shaukat Khanum Donations

Shahid Afridi Refutes Claims of Discouraging Donations to Shaukat Khanum

Shahid Afridi addressed and refuted false claims that he discouraged donations to Shaukat Khanum Hospital, affirming his support and praising its contributions to cancer care. On July 1, Shahid Afridi, in a television interview, praised the work being done by Shaukat Khanum Hospital. He highlighted that his own father was treated there and spoke against politicizing charity organizations. This interview …

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court's (IHC) Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb on Thursday underscored the inappropriate language used by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) firebrand activist Sanam Javaid and sought her lawyer's assurance that such conduct won't be repeated. "[I] saw [Sanam] Javaid using inappropriate language on the internet," Justice Aurangzeb remarked while hearing the PTI leader's plea seeking her release. For months, Javaid has been embroiled in legal battles and has faced arrests and rearrest in multiple cases related to the May 9 riots, triggered after former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan's arrest in a graft case, which saw several military installations being vandalised. video 02 Pause Unmute Current Time 0:09 / Duration 0:47 Quality Levels She has been acquitted in a total of four cases including the one filed by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) recently, and has acquired bail in the remaining eight cases. On Monday, the PTI activist secured a major relief after the high court ordered her release and prevented the police and other law enforcement agencies from arresting her till Thursday (today). The court's orders came after her father had moved the court against his daughter's arrest which came soon after her release in the case registered by the FIA. A day earlier, she was shifted to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House in Islamabad on KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur's orders. During the hearing of the plea filed against her arrest today, the PTI activist's lawyer assured the court that his client would not indulge in improper use of language in future. Meanwhile, appearing before the court, Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan said that Balochistan police weren't insisting on securing the transit remand of the activist. The remarks refer to the latest case lodged against Javaid in Balochistan under the Anti-Terrorism Act. "[Sanam] Javaid is free and can now go back to her province," the official said. The court then disposed of the plea and declared her arrest "illegal". Speaking to the media at the IHC, Javaid's lawyer Advocate Mian Ali Ashfaq Ali said that the attorney general, during their meeting, has assured that the PTI activist would not be arrested in any case in the country. "The attorney general has also said in the IHC that Javaid won't be arrested," he said. The counsel further revealed that the AGP has said that cases registered against his client in Balochistan and Islamabad would be withdrawn within two days. On the issue of the language used by the PTI activist, Advocate Ali said that he apologised to the court on behalf of his client and reassured that of due caution in future in response to Justice Aurangzeb's remarks highlighting her use of harsh and improper words.

IHC Judge Notes Alleged Use of Inappropriate Language by Sanam Javaid

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb on Thursday underscored the inappropriate language used by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) firebrand activist Sanam Javaid and sought her lawyer’s assurance that such conduct won’t be repeated. “[I] saw [Sanam] Javaid using inappropriate language on the internet,” Justice Aurangzeb remarked while hearing the PTI leader’s plea seeking her release. For months, Javaid …

Federal Minister and Former Minister Clash Over IPP Contracts Amid Rising Power Costs

Federal Minister and Former Minister Clash Over IPP Contracts Amid Rising Power Costs

Tensions have escalated between Federal Minister for Energy Awais Leghari and former caretaker minister Dr. Gohar Ejaz over Independent Power Producer (IPP) contracts, as electricity bills continue to surge in Pakistan. Minister Leghari defended the government’s stance, stating that unilateral action against IPPs is constrained by existing contractual obligations and government guarantees. He emphasized the government’s intention to privatize financially-strained …

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday projected Pakistan's economy to grow at a rate of 3.5% in the fiscal year 2024-25 (FY25), as against the government’s target of 3.6%, announced in the budget, amid lukewarm global growth. Pakistan’s gross domestic product (GDP) may have expanded by 2.4% in the last fiscal year (2023-24), missing the target of 3.5%, according to the government’s economic survey for the last fiscal year. Faced with chronic mismanagement, Pakistan's economy has found itself on the brink, challenged by the Covid-19 pandemic, the effects of the war in Ukraine and supply difficulties that fuelled inflation, as well as record flooding that affected a third of the country in 2022. The IMF in a World Economic Outlook (WEO) update warned that the global economy was set for modest growth over the next two years amid cooling activity in the US, a bottoming-out in Europe and stronger consumption and exports for China, but risks to the path abound. The IMF kept its 2024 global real gross domestic product growth forecast unchanged from April at 3.2% and raised its 2025 forecast by 0.1 percentage point to 3.3%. The forecasts fail to shift growth from the lackluster levels that IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva has warned would lead to "the tepid twenties." But the revised outlook reflected some shifting sands among major economies, with the 2024 US growth forecast reduced by 0.1 percentage point to 2.6%, reflecting slower-than-expected first-quarter consumption. The Fund's 2025 US growth forecast was unchanged at 1.9%, a slowdown driven by a cooling labour market and moderating spending in response to tight monetary policy. "Growth in major advanced economies is becoming more aligned as output gaps are closing," IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said in a blog post accompanying the report, adding that the US was showing increasing signs of cooling, while Europe was poised to pick up. The IMF significantly hiked its China growth forecast to 5.0% - matching the Chinese government's target for the year - from 4.6% in April due to a first-quarter rebound in private consumption and strong exports. The IMF also boosted its 2025 China growth forecast to 4.5% from 4.1% in April. Inflation is here to stay The IMF warned of near-term upside risks to inflation as services prices remain elevated amid wage growth in the labor-intensive sector and said renewed trade and geopolitical tensions could stoke price pressures by increasing the cost of imported goods along the supply chain. "The risk of elevated inflation has raised the prospects of higher-for-even-longer interest rates, which in turn increases external, fiscal and financial risks," the IMF said in the report. But China's momentum may be sputtering, as Beijing on Monday reported second-quarter GDP growth of just 4.7%, significantly below forecasts amid weak consumer spending amid a protracted property downturn. Gourinchas told Reuters in an interview that the new data poses a downside risk to the IMF forecast, as it signals weakness in consumer confidence and continuing problems in the property sector. To boost domestic consumption, China needs to fully resolve its property crisis, as real estate is the main asset for most Chinese households. Protectionism remains a problem The IMF also warned of potential swings in economic policy as a result of many elections this year that could have negative spillovers to the rest of the world. "These potential shifts entail fiscal profligacy risks that will worsen debt dynamics, adversely affecting long-term yields and ratcheting up protectionism," the Fund said. The Fund did not name US Republican party candidate Donald Trump, who has proposed to impose a 10% tariff on all US imports, nor Democratic President Joe Biden, who has sharply hiked tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, batteries, solar panels and semiconductors. But it said that higher tariffs and a scaling up of domestic industrial policy could create "damaging cross-border spillovers, as well as trigger retaliation, resulting in a costly race to the bottom." Instead, the IMF recommended that policymakers persevere with restoring price stability - easing monetary policy only gradually - replenish fiscal buffers drained during the pandemic and pursue policies that promote trade and increase productivity.

IMF Forecasts Pakistan’s GDP Growth for FY25 at 3.5% Despite Inflation Risks

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday projected Pakistan’s economy to grow at a rate of 3.5% in the fiscal year 2024-25 (FY25), as against the government’s target of 3.6%, announced in the budget, amid lukewarm global growth. Pakistan’s gross domestic product (GDP) may have expanded by 2.4% in the last fiscal year (2023-24), missing the target of 3.5%, according …

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